Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I came across this just now in my notes and thought it was really encouraging, so I will share it!!!

(This is collaborated from Isaiah chapters 49, 50, & 51 along with Psalm chapters 100, & 101 different versions too amplified, NKJV, NLT, NIV) Oh and the Italicized words are definitions :) I withheld from going deeper into this because I just wanted it to encourage you as you read it :) !

"The Lord has called me from the womb; from the body of my mother He has named my name. And He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand has He hid me & made me a polished arrow; in His quiver {a case for holding or carrying arrows} has He kept me close & concealed me. And the Lord said to me, You are my servant, _(your name)_____ (who strives with God & with men & prevail) in whom I will be glorified. For the Lord God helps me; therefore have I not been ashamed or confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint {something hard and unyielding}, and I know that I will not be put to shame. I will listen to the Lord almighty, as I follow after rightness & justice. I will seek and inquire of the Lord. I will look to the rock from which I was hewn & to the hole in the quarry from which I was dug. For the Lord will comfort me. In His arm shall I trust and wait with hope, because my heart is set before the Lord, with His law & instruction written on my heart. I will not fear the reproach of men neither will I be afraid or dismayed at their revilings {speak abusively}I will sing of mercy & loving kindness & justice; to you, O Lord, will I sing. With my whole being body and soul I will shout out to the living God who gives me life. That I may truly know (percieve, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord IS God! It is He who has made us, not we ourselves {and we are His} We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. I know that you favor and delight in me because my enemy does not triumph over me. You have upheld me in my integrity and set me in your presence forever. I will hope in God and be waiting expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my help and my God.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

I have MANY passages in the bible that I love but I think my favorite chapter would be Psalm 139. I absolutley LOVE that chapter! I copied this from the New King James Version and used www.youversion.com by the way youversion.com is an excellent FREE resource for multiple translations of the bible AND Devotionals!!! Check it out!

I am going to break this chapter apart and insert my notes :)When you read this ,though, I want you to think about every word and what that means to you. Take your time reading this chapter and put yourself in it, like if you were the one telling this to God. !

Psalm 139

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off. I really love this, God knows you. Sometimes we don't know ourselves, but God KNOWS you. He knows the depth of your heart and what you long for. AND he even understands your thoughts! In the New Living Translation 'afar off' is similar to when you are far away. You may not even feel like you were as close to God as you once were but He still understands your thoughts! I like to think of it as God is always listening to us!3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. Sometimes I wonder if we would change the way we talk if we knew Jesus was visibly there with us in person? Would your vocabulary change? Would your conversation go another direction? Would you still Gossip about that girl or talk bad about your parents? It's a crazy thought! Even though Jesus might not be visible to us, He is still there.5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me. What a great Dad, a protector. I love this because I know that wherever I go God is watching over me.6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. This is powerful stuff!!! Have you ever made your bed in Hell? I know I have, I like to call them pity parties. OR if not pity parties, moments or days of despair. I think it is interesting to note that it isn't anyone else who makes the bed but yourself. And no matter where you choose to make your bed God is still there!!!!! I love it.9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Fun thought: what would it look like to take the wings of the morning? I imagine it would be beautiful and breathtaking! To see the sun rise and be in the clouds taking in all the beautiful colors that light up the earth!! To dwell in the deepest part of the sea, now that would be scary!!! I would much rather be in the sky lol. 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me. The author is showing that no matter where we are we are never to far from God.11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You. I love how the darkness and light are the same to God! isn't that mind boggling! I love it. There is nothing Greater than God! 13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. I love knowing God formed us, created us exactly how He wanted us. Nothing was hidden from Him. I also love the fact that we were made in secret. Far away from destruction and negativity. It was just you and God. I love holding newborn babies because I look into their eyes and think, you have spent 9 months starring at the face of God and now I can hold you and look into the eyes that have gazed upon God.16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them! These two verses get me everytime, God saw everything about you. He even wrote a book about you! He saw it ALL and yet He is captivated by you. His thoughts are precious toward you. He doesn't look at all the mess ups we make. Whenever we ask for forgiveness Jesus' blood covers our sins and washes us clean!! CLEAN---God doesn't remember them!!! It's difficult to comprehend because we are the ones who still remember our sins but Jesus took our sin and SHAME on the cross, so we could live in righteousness (being right before God).18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You. 19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. 20 For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.I don't think this could have been a psalm without talking about the enemy lol. I think these passages show the authors passion toward God. You know the feeling whenever you hear someone defy (deny, criticize) the name of God. Something rises up within you.23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties; ...and to close us out, the prayer of opening up our lives to God to teach, guide and cleanse us.

So now you see why Psalm 139 is my absolute favorite chapter in the bible. It shows the definition of How much God loves you and this was written even before Jesus came to die on the cross for you!!! God loved you from the beginning!

As a christian we will never understand who we truly are until we understand that we are deeply loved by God, not because we love Him but because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Friday, August 12, 2011

"I was out on Mid-night outreach one night, which is a ministry in St. Louis for prostitutes and others who are on the streets at that time. We would pass out roses to the women and pray for them. One particular girl had to be around my age then, 19. I was talking with her and I asked if I could pray for her. While I was praying I gave her a hug and she clung to me and started to bawl in my arms. I just held her and prayed for her for almost 5 minutes. She looked at me and told me she didn't know when the last time she had a genuine hug from someone. My heart melted. Here she was on the streets lost in selling herself looking for acceptance and love."

From that encounter with that girl I realized how fatherless our generation is becoming. I look around at our society and I see young girls selling their bodies everyday by the way they dress and talk to others. I see them like that young girl looking for love and acceptance. When was the last time the daughters of this generation had a genuine hug and felt like they were valuable not just for their appearance but because of who God made them to be? There became a cry in my heart to reach out to the daughters and let them know they are valuable and loved deeply by a God who delights in them. Growing up, I didn't have the best relationship with my dad, especially as a teenager. After I graduated High school I became an intern at the St.Louis Dream Center Church. I learned so much during my internship about who I was and how much God loved me. I knew I was suppose to go back home and restore my relationship with my dad. It was the most difficult decision I have ever had to make, to go back to a place I said I would never return. As I went God spoke to my heart to write a book about my journey and the lessons I would learn from it. So I wrote "Cookies and Milk, from One Daughter to Another". It has been a long journey writing and learning but I am finally here. This blog is dedicated to the daughters who are looking to deny the lies this world has given us and reclaim truth. My prayer is that it will be encouraging and edifying to you! Now you know the origin let's begin....

About Me

I am a wife, a mother of two little girls, and a lover of Jesus. I love talking which leads me to writing. I also am on a journey of finding out who I am in Christ. I am discovering that life with Christ is a FREE gift, it's not a matter of works. God loves me and you and no matter what we do nothing will ever change that! We cannot add or take away from the Cross!